MIKVAH refresh your creativity poems, stories, art

Renew creativity with a plunge into the waters. This page features links to poetry, short stories, creative non-fiction and art that have been published here. See submission guidelines at "Announce, Write, Draw" tab.

The idea for this page came to me in a dream. Before our first issue launched in 2024, I dreamed that I was in a darkened Mikveh and a Greek goddess was pouring water over my head to purify my thoughts while an unseen chorus chanted, "Call it Mikveh, call the journal Mikveh." Lena S. Keslin just delivered a story for the February 2026 issue, "Unearthing the Subterranean Mikveh of Ortigia, Sicily." I subsequently have learned that Ortigia was known mythologically as the site where the Greek nymph Arethusa was transformed into a spring by her patron goddess Artemis. And am reminded: Everything is connected.

Hidden in Plain Sight, Unearthing the Subterranean Mikveh of Ortigia, Sicily

Story and Photos by Lena S. Keslin “To have seen Italy without having seen Sicily is not to have seen Italy at all, for Sicily is the key to everything.” —Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1816 My friend, Judith Zorzy, had been telling me about the beauty and history of Ortigia

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The Eighth Night

By Diane Joy Schmidt In December, she flew again from Albuquerque to Chicago. It was the first night of Chanukah. Joy and her sisters lit the candles every night at the hospital bedside and sang the songs, tuneless and off-key, something they hadn’t done together since they were children.

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Chanukah Children’s Art from 4 of our Synagogues: Temple Beth Shalom, Congregation B’nai Israel, Nahalat Shalom, and Congregation Albert

CHANUKAH CHILDREN’S ART 2025 Next holiday we hope to include even more! Thank you to Jessica Corley for volunteering to engage our synagogues in sharing all this wonderful artwork: from Temple Beth Shalom in Santa Fe, and in Albuquerque from Nahalat Shalom, Congregation B’nai Israel and Congregation Albert. CONGREGATION BETH

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Hidden in Plain Sight, The Alhambra in Granada, Spain

Story and photographs by Lena S. Keslin April 22, 2025 There are times in our lives when an opportunity appears. We were invited to visit Spain on a Jewish Tour with Rabbi Howard Berman, a dear, lifelong friend, and some of his Boston congregation. I was excited because this trip

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Volume 1, Number 4 Winter 2024

Perfidious

by Gabriel Lampert NMJJ Vol.1 No.4. The story “Perfidious” was first published in Jewish Fiction. Los Lunas, NM, June 1942 I hate arguments. If I lose, it makes me feel small. If I win, I can feel the other person’s hate. I’ve always run away from

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PERFIDIOUS 1st Place, Illustration, Society Professional Journalists

THE HANUKKAH MIRACLE

LIGHTS IN WINTER

HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT: THE OLD JEWISH CEMETERY ON THE LIDO 1st place Photo/Story, NMPress Women, 3rd National Federation Press Women.

Hidden in Plain Sight, The Old Jewish Cemetery on the Lido, one of the many islands of Venice, Italy

Story and Photos by Lena S. Keslin 1st place, New Mexico Press Women, and 3rd, National Federation of Press Women, 2025. Subsequently reprinted by HaLapid: Society of Crypto-Jewish Studies, across 4 color print pages. It’s interesting how some memories can stay with us for many years. In 1984 I

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Volume 1, Number 3 Fall 2024

Tahara, An Encounter Honorable Mention, Health, NMPW

Tahara: An Encounter

By Rabbi Min Kantrowitz Initially I was just curious about Tahara…how are we supposed to care for our recently deceased friends, relatives and congregants? Is there a formal process? Specific liturgy or instructions…..but then I realized what I was really concerned about was how I would react to

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Hidden in Plain Sight: Amsterdam Honorable Mention, Photo/Story NMPW

Hidden In Plain Sight, Amsterdam

Story and Photos by Lena S. Keslin Just the name Amsterdam conjures up images of a quaint city with its picturesque canals and bridges. Each of the 17th century Dutch colonial homes is different from the next as they line the canals. There are narrow cobblestone streets with more bicycles

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Shabbat with Friends: Recapturing Together the Joy of Shabbat
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Where the North Ends, A Novel by Hugo Moreno 

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